Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Tuesday decried therestrictions on the civilian traffic on Qazigund-Nashri stretch, saying themeasure is “regressive and will put the people to undue duress.”
The party general secretary Haji Ali Muhammad Sagar whilecensuring the administration for the imprudent step said, “The incumbentadministration is known for coming up with such unconsidered decisions. Themove will inadvertently hit the movement of civilian traffic on the Jammu–Srinagar highway.
He said the only national highway connecting Srinagar withthe rest of country already suffers from intermittent blockages due to thevagaries of weather. “The other day the civilian traffic on the stretch wascurbed for 5 hours. The diktat of putting restrictions on the vehicularmovement if persists will put the public to undue duress. The step is bound tohamper the easy movement of tourist inflow to Kashmir. Moreover the diktat willaffect the traders by spoiling Kashmir bound perishable items and vice versa,”he said.
Sagar while calling for an early revocation of the recklessdiktat said, “The frequent restrictions on the sole national highway connectingKashmir with the rest of the country on one pretext or the other causesunimaginable loses to the business community apart from severe inconvenience tothe general public including patients and students.”
 “No where in theworld are people subjected to such bizarre diktats and deplorable treatment bythe governments that claim to work for the betterment of common citizenry,” hesaid adding, “Restrictions like these on a route as is already troubled withblockages tantamount to strangulation of the economic activity in the valley.”
Sagar said such moves are uncalled for and reflective of theaversion that the present administration has for the humane values. “I urge theadministration to revoke the diktat of barring the civilian vehicles fromplying on Qazigund-Nashri stretch from 10 am to 3 pm. Putting a whole lot ofpopulation to restrictions is analogous to disenfranchising them from theirbasic rights. Nowhere in the world are civilians treated like bound chattel. Itdoes not behoove a working democracy like that of ours to come up with such”Tuglaqi Farmans” on and off”, he said.